This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire PubMed PubMed Citation

Why Do Life Spans Differ? Partitioning Mean Longevity Differences in Terms of Age-Specific Mortality Parameters

^a Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul

Scott D. Pletcher, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Doberaner Strausse 114, D-18057 Rostock, Germany E-mail: pletcher{at}demogr.mpg.de.

Jay Roberts, PhD

Populations typically differ in mean life spans because of genetic, environmental, or experimental factors. In this paper methods are presented that clarify the relationship between differences in the longevity of two populations and differences in their underlying age-specific patterns of mortality. Data are examined from rodent and fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) experiments that investigated the longevity effects of a variety of environmental and genetic manipulations, including temperature, dietary restriction, laboratory selection for increased longevity, and severe inbreeding. Analyses suggest that longevity differences mediated by temperature and dietary restriction result predominantly from differences in the rate of increase in mortality with age. Increases in longevity through laboratory selection result primarily from a reduction in baseline mortality and not a slowing of the rate of aging. Although the methods are applied primarily in the context of simple mathematical models of mortality (e.g., the Gompertz model), they are quite general and can be applied to mortality models of arbitrary complexity. Mathematica protocols ("notebooks") and computer software have been developed to perform all the analyses discussed and are available from the first author.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. V. Samuelson, C. E. Carr, and G. Ruvkun Gene activities that mediate increased life span of C. elegans insulin-like signaling mutants Genes & Dev., November 15, 2007; 21(22): 2976 - 2994. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. Ran, H. Liang, Y. Ikeno, W. Qi, T. A. Prolla, L. J. Roberts II, N. Wolf, H. VanRemmen, and A. Richardson Reduction in Glutathione Peroxidase 4 Increases Life Span Through Increased Sensitivity to Apoptosis J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., September 1, 2007; 62(9): 932 - 942. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Gong, J. N. Thompson Jr., and R. C. Woodruff Effect of Deleterious Mutations on Life Span in Drosophila melanogaster J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., December 1, 2006; 61(12): 1246 - 1252. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. C. Cabelof, Y. Ikeno, A. Nyska, R. A. Busuttil, N. Anyangwe, J. Vijg, L. H. Matherly, J. D. Tucker, S. H. Wilson, A. Richardson, et al. Haploinsufficiency in DNA Polymerase {beta} Increases Cancer Risk with Age and Alters Mortality Rate. Cancer Res., August 1, 2006; 66(15): 7460 - 7465. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. K. Johnson, S. W. McKechnie, and D. J. Clancy Water balance and cation levels in Drosophila: can early physiological decline predict aging and longevity? J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., February 1, 2006; 61(2): 146 - 152. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. J. Masoro Caloric Restriction and Aging: Controversial Issues J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., January 1, 2006; 61(1): 14 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. M. Rand, A. Fry, and L. Sheldahl Nuclear-Mitochondrial Epistasis and Drosophila Aging: Introgression of Drosophila simulans mtDNA Modifies Longevity in D. melanogaster Nuclear Backgrounds Genetics, January 1, 2006; 172(1): 329 - 341. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. A Maklakov, N. Kremer, and G. Arnqvist Adaptive male effects on female ageing in seed beetles Proc R Soc B, December 7, 2005; 272(1580): 2485 - 2489. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. C. Spencer and D. E. L. Promislow Age-Specific Changes in Epistatic Effects on Mortality Rate in Drosophila melanogaster J. Hered., September 1, 2005; 96(5): 513 - 521. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. P. de Magalhaes, J. A. S. Cabral, and D. Magalhaes The Influence of Genes on the Aging Process of Mice: A Statistical Assessment of the Genetics of Aging Genetics, January 1, 2005; 169(1): 265 - 274. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. S. Burger and D. E. L. Promislow Sex-Specific Effects of Interventions That Extend Fly Life Span Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ., July 14, 2004; 2004(28): pe30 - pe30. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				J. H. Marden, B. Rogina, K. L. Montooth, and S. L. Helfand Conditional tradeoffs between aging and organismal performance of Indy long-lived mutant flies PNAS, March 18, 2003; 100(6): 3369 - 3373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Arking, J. Novoseltseva, D.-S. Hwangbo, V. Novoseltsev, and M. Lane Different Age-Specific Demographic Profiles Are Generated in the Same Normal-Lived Drosophila Strain by Different Longevity Stimuli J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., November 1, 2002; 57(11): B390 - 398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. D. Pletcher Mitigating the Tithonus Error: Genetic Analysis of Mortality Phenotypes Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ., September 18, 2002; 2002(37): pe14 - 14. [Abstract] [Full Text]